Redemption isn't an Easy Road to Travel
by LexiAmbroseCabana
Summary: Seven part saga following the Zayn/Owens feud starting from NXT TakeOver Rival. Sami Zayn is a man desperate to avenge the wrongs that have been done to him by his once best friend Kevin Owens. He lost the title, but he hasn't lost his pride and he has to work hard to prove to his son how a man handles things. Sami Zayn/OC, Dad!Zayn, and a lot of Kevin bashing.
1. Rival

**So this is based off of Owens vs. Zayn 1 at NXT TakeOver: Rival and basically follows Sami's road to redemption/revenge and finally kicking Kevin's ass. I have no clue why I'm obsessed with the idea of wrestlers as parents, but I just think Sami would be great dad. I'm not alone, right? Anyways, please give me any and all feedback either in review form or you can pm me. Thanks!**

* * *

She had spent the majority of the match with her eyes closed. This was a huge match for her husband, going up against his best friend for the NXT Championship. But this wasn't a good hearted match between friends and she was regretting having flown down to Florida with their son to see the match live. The poor boy couldn't even bring himself to close his eyes to shield himself from watching his "Uncle Kevin" beat down his father as if they were never friends in the first place. He was just too shocked to look away.

In her opinion, the ref calling the match and saying that Sami was unable to continue was the best thing that could ever happen. He was stubborn, and having a head injury certainly wasn't helping. And that son of a bitch looked so proud of himself, which made her sick to her stomach. How could he be so cruel? Sami was always there for him when needed, and this was how Kevin repaid him for all the good he'd done? She just couldn't believe it.

"Mommy." The frightened voice of her son snapped her from her thoughts of how despicable Kevin was, and she looked down at him with her best attempt of a smile to let him know everything was fine. "Is Daddy going to be okay?"

"He's going to be fine." She assured, knowing that Sami would be fine. Maybe not tomorrow, but he would be fine in the end. He'd recover, he'd get better, he'd train harder, and he'd return to kick Kevin's ass and reclaim the NXT Championship. Because that was how he operated. "Wanna head to the back now so we can see him faster?"

"Yes please." He whispered, sliding his hand into his mother's and letting her guide him away. So many people were talking around them about Sami and Kevin, some were even _praising_ Kevin for possibly ending Sami's career and that made her sick too. People were just sick, and she had to explain that to her son once they were in the lobby. "Mom, they were-"

"I know, honey." She spoke softly, kneeling down in front of him and smoothing down his Sami Zayn tshirt. "Some people are sick and say things like that without realizing that there are young fans like you who look up to Sami and are upset by this. But its okay, because he's fine."

"He is?"

"He will be." She whispered, kissing her son's forehead with a smile. He tried his best to smile for her, but she wasn't going to be hurt by this. She couldn't take much more emotional stress on this night. Tomorrow was another day and she'd take everything, but not tonight. "Let's go see him."

The adventure backstage was something that she had to carry her son through. Everyone was rushing about everywhere, trying to avoid Kevin but at the same time trying to get some update on Sami and she hated seeing all the sympathetic stares in their direction. It wasn't anything that she wanted right now. It took a few minutes, but they made it to the trainers room and she was stopped from going in by Triple H. She'd met him on a couple occasions and was happy to see him here, but she was more concerned with her husband.

"Where is he?"

"They're taking him to a local medical facility. I sent somebody out there to collect you guys, but you must've left before they could get to you. The ambulance just left and-"

"Where are they taking him?" She asked, obviously growing more frantic with every moment that passed by where she was away from her injured husband. Hunter had only been able to get out the name of the hospital before she and her son were out the door and headed for the car. She wasn't pleased at all to hear that the ambulance had left without them, but she knew that it was for the best that she take the car to the hospital so she could drive Sami home to the apartment that he stayed at when he was in Orlando for work.

"Mommy, Daddy is gonna be okay right?"

"Of course, sweetie." Was her instant response as she drove, generic response to a child by their parent when they weren't sure of what to say but didn't want to further concern their child. She couldn't let Stevie worry himself too much about his father, because Sami was going to be fine. Besides, a child shouldn't spend their days worrying themselves about their parents and their health. That wasn't how childhood should be spent.

"You're going to make him take a couple days off, right?"

"You know I am."

* * *

He was up and ready to go by sunrise. He knew that he shouldn't have been getting so active when his body screamed at him on his way out of bed. Kevin, that dick, had done a number on him and he hated that his best friend, of all people, had the nerve to hurt him like that. He hated more that his, now ex, best friend had the nerve to do that to him when he knew that his wife and son were in the audience.

Kevin was family to him. A brother to him and his wife, an uncle to his son, and he threw all that away and for what? A championship? He understood why, because that was his reason for chasing the NXT Championship. Having a championship meant having a better paycheck, and a better paycheck meant a better life for his family. He understood that. But Kevin didn't have to go about it that way. Kevin didn't have to betray him in front of his wife and son, and he certainly didn't have to beat him down like that to the point where he couldn't continue. There was a line between a "wrestling match" and a "back alley mugging", and Kevin crossed that line far beyond the point of no return.

Which is why he had to be up and moving. He had to get into fighting shape as soon as possible. He had to. If not for himself and his pride, but for his wife and son. He had to show his wife that he was actually okay and he needed to show his son how a _man_ handles business, not a coward. Lucky for him, his son understood why "Uncle Kevin" wasn't going to be around as often. His son was actually upset by Kevin's actions last night at TakeOver: Rival to the point where he requested that every picture of Kevin that was hung in their home be taken down. It was something that he and his wife agreed to without questioning, but it hurt him to do so and he knew that it hurt her too.

This was why he had to get back to training. He had to be stronger, faster, just all around better than he ever was. He had to kick Kevin's ass and show him how a real man took care of his family. He had to.

"Where are you going?" The tired mumbling of his wife had him freezing in the doorway before slowly turning to face her. She was sitting up, brown hair a mess from sleeping, and rubbing at her eyes. Just seeing her so tired from them being at the hospital for so long after his match had him feeling so guilty and even more upset with fucking Kevin for doing this to him and his family. "Sami, you weren't going to work out were you?"

"Of course not. I was just going to go start breakfast." He lied, not wanting to upset the love of his life and the mother of his child. There was no way she'd let him go out to push his body so soon after such a brutal match. It was because she loved him and he appreciated it to no end, but sometimes he just wished that she'd enable his destructive habits like she used to. "Eggs and bacon? Or maybe sausage?"

"You're lying to me Sami."

"I made a change of plans, that's not lying." He covered, smiling sheepishly when she looked at him with a look nothing short of unimpressed. He watched from the doorway, not at all daring himself to move, as she slid out of bed and went to their closet. She pulled on some pants and tied her tshirt, one of his merch shirts, in the back to be tighter around her body before she grabbed her hair tie and pulled her hair back. He placed his hands on the door frames, blocking her path with a smile while she placed her hands on his chest. He could feel the warmth of her hands through the shirt he was wearing and silently begged her to let him do _something._ He knew in his gut that she wouldn't but he had to at least try. He couldn't give up on his first day on his road to recovery. He had to fight _every_ battle and not give in just because his wife had the most adorable pout in the world.

"No." Was all she whispered at first, answering his unspoken question while her bright green eyes betrayed just how worried she was about him. He hated seeing that look in her eyes, and he hated Kevin more for being the reason why she was so worried about him. "Sami, that prick beat you down to the point where the ref had to stop the match and we spent four hours in the hospital. You need to spend today resting; not cooking, not cleaning, and certainly not working out."

"But-"

"Sami, please."

It was silent between them for a moment, their eyes watching each other closely. In the ten years that they had been together she had always had a hold over him. Even in his most stubborn moments, all she had to do was pout up at him and make him _feel_ how worried she was about his well being and he just gave in. He'd tried multiple times in the past to have that not be the case, but he always folded and gave in to her request and today would be no different despite the fact that he tried his damnedest to not fall victim.

His surrender came in the form of him sighing before kissing her forehead, whispering to her words of apology in French before gently taking her face in his hands. She saw the desperation in his eyes and, as much as she really hated seeing him upset and wanted to let him do things, she couldn't. Not when he was this hurt. She knew that she had seen him in physical conditions much worse than this, but this was something that he needed to recover from not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. He'd never been torn apart physically, mentally, and emotionally all in the same night by the same person, so this was a brand new battle for the two of them.

"To the bed with you." She demanded, smiling when he actually complied without complaint. He took his shirt, shoes, and socks off before getting himself comfortable in their bed and she took off her yoga pants before joining him. He head made gentle contact with his chest as she got comfortable beside him and Sami couldn't help but smile a bit as he held her close to him. "At least until the little one wakes up. Then you can go on couch rest while I take care of you."

"Nursing me back to health?"

"Something like that." She murmured, kissing his chest over his heartbeat before settling down and shutting her eyes. "Talk me through what you're thinking, Sami."

"I don't think you really want to know."

"I do. I need to know because I'm your wife and the one person who you can trust with this sensitive information." He knew her eyes were still closed, because she did everything easier with her eyes closed. Thinking was easier for her and he needed this conversation to be as easy on them as possible. "Talk to me, Sam."

"I just, fuck... I wish I knew _why._ Why did he feel the need to do this to me? To us? To _Stevie_? That's his godson, and he had to do what he did to me last night with _both_ of our families sitting in the audience? The fucking nerve." Sami ranted, holding his wife just a bit tighter as all the emotions from last night resurfaced. Tears stung at those dark eyes and he tried so hard to not give away the fact that he was ready to start crying. He didn't want her worrying about him too much, especially after they spent so long in the hospital. "Why the fuck would he do this tome _me_? I've- I've-"

"Oh Sami," She whispered, sitting up and pulling him up with her for a hug. She held him tightly in her arms, letting him rest his head on her chest while he cried. "None of this is your fault. You've been nothing but there for that prick, and he turned on you in the most malicious way possible and didn't even tell you why. Just relax, alright, and focus on getting better so that you can go back and kick his ass and make him pay for what he did to you."

"And you." Sami added, closing his eyes when she started petting his head as they slowly rocked back and forth. "I'm not going back to work for a while."

"Take as much time as you need. The last thing I want is you going into a fight injured."

"A couple months at the least. But I need to go to the Performance Center, talk to the docs and see just how bad it really is." He informed, and he knew that she was nodding her understanding before she kissed the top of his head.

"We can head over there after breakfast." She decided, carding her fingers through his hair while trying to figure out just where his head was _really_ at. He tended to let his mind wander when he was bothered by something, and she had spent years exhausting herself while trying to figure it out but she still hadn't given up on trying.

"Eggs and bacon with some coffee sounds really nice." Sami muttered, wrapping his arms around his wife as tightly as he could without hurting her or himself. "I just want to spend the day with you guys. I know you guys have plans and shit that you'd like to do together because usually when you're here I have to be there working and-"

"Sounds good to me." She whispered to cut off his tired rambling, smiling when she heard him yawn into her shirt. "You need to get some sleep, babe."

"I know, mon amour." He murmured, rubbing her back as she kissed the top of his head. "Thank you for being here and-"

"And doing my job as your wife? I signed up for this, babe, and I've been doing it without complaint since we met."

"But still..." He muttered, wiping at his eyes as he pulled away so he could look her in the eye. She hated seeing him like this, but she was glad that she was here to pick up the pieces of his shattered heart and spirit. Next time she saw Kevin she'd- "Katie please stop murdering that asshole in your head."

"You know me too well." She spoke with a small smile, cupping his bearded cheek before pecking his lips. "Now, bedtime."

"I still feel like thanking you is necessary."

"No need to thank me, Sami." She whispered, kissing his forehead before forcing him to lay down. "But I would _love_ for you to take some time off and come home with Stevie and I. I know you just said that you would, but you can be wishy-washy when you've got a head injury and I just want to be certain that you understand that you've got no choice in this."

"And I will go home. We can buy the plane tickets and everything once I'm done at the performance center. I know Regal would be happy to give me the time off after last night's events."

"Good. I wouldn't want to have to go in there and make demands." She spoke with a smile, laying her head on his chest and resting her hand over his heart. His heartbeat was her constant reminder that she wasn't living in some twisted dream.

"They don't need to know how bitchy you can be when you're trying to protect me." He laughed, smoothing a hand down her head and gently patting her cheek. "Go to bed."

"Shut up, Sami."


	2. Hostile

"Its changed." He mutters from his spot on the couch, eyes glued to the TV as he watched Kevin's reign of terror over NXT continue. She watches him from the kitchen with a small frown, knowing that he was still so very hurt by everything that had transpired over the last two months. She wanted to make it better, since no woman ever wanted to see the man they loved more than anything so hurt, but she didn't know how to fix it and that bothered her. They'd been home fore about a week and, while he wasn't sore or walking around the house like he was trying to hide a limp, he was still injured and that bothered her too. She knew head injuries weren't cured overnight, but they'd never dealt with an injury like this before now.

"What's changed?"

"NXT. Kevin, he... he's changing everything." Sami whispered, shutting his eyes so he wouldn't have to look at the television for a moment. He doesn't see her bite her lip, he doesn't see the uncertainty and worry in his wife's eyes as they bounce from the television to him and back, and he doesn't see the way those green eyes are welling up with tears. She hates seeing him so hurt, so bothered, by anything at all. She hates when he doesn't have a smile on his face, and she's on the brink of breaking down because she can't handle seeing him hurt like this for much longer. "Aren't you going to say something?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I dunno, Katie! Something, anything!" He snaps, rising from the couch and beginning to pace the living room. She'd seen this side of her husband before and, while this is rare and she knows he doesn't mean to be so hostile, it still upset her that he'd snap at her. She, who had done no wrong, was getting yelled at for not knowing what to say. She was too upset to yell back, though, and she didn't want to. They often started saying things that they didn't really mean when they started to argue back and forth and she didn't want to deal with all of that, nor did she want to owe him an apology. Not this time.

So she leaned back against the counter, arms crossed and her lips pressed firmly together to stop herself from calling him out. She just watches as he paces the living room and waits for him to realize just what he had done. But she doesn't get what she expected, and she doesn't get the apology she wants out of her husband when he turns to face her.

"And you're fucking watching me. Always watching, making sure I don't hurt myself. I'm not a child, _Katherine_ , in fact I'm a father and more than capable of taking care of myself just like I do my part to take care of you and him. I did it before I ever met you, and you could walk out right now and I'd probably do alright without you." Sami ranted, placing his hands on his head as he continues to ramble while his wife looks on with an uninterested stare. "Actually, before Stevie came along I was always taking care of you because you couldn't hold liquor for shit but _always_ wanted to party."

The brunette rolls her eyes as she exits the kitchen, green eyes glancing towards the clock and seeing that it was time for her to leave. She had to pick up their son from school and make sure that he had a proper snack before she drove him to his hockey practice. She had duties as a mother to perform, which meant that her stupid husband would have to wait to continue belittling her or apologize. She doesn't say a word as she leaves the house, leaving Sami to storm up the stairs so he could change his clothes.

Words could not describe how upset she was with her husband. Was she angry? Hell yes, but she was more saddened by his words than she was mad, but she still didn't know how exactly to describe it. She knew that he didn't really mean those things, but why say them at all? Why not just tell her that he was getting tired of being under her microscope? Why did he have to stoop so low? He _knew_ that she regretted being such a hard partier in the early years of their relationship, so why the hell would he hit her with a low blow like that? It wasn't fair to her, because she had done nothing wrong this time.

But, as _upset_ as she was, she had to straighten herself out once she was out of the 2014 Jeep Patriot that her husband had so kindly surprised her with the year prior. She was one of the community's best real estate agents and her face was plastered all over city benches and the like. She was almost like a celebrity, therefore she couldn't look anything but happy. Looking unhappy gave others the opportunity to talk about her and she didn't want that. It was actually the very _last_ thing that she wanted. Other than the wandering eyes of those around her, she needed everything to seem alright for her don. Steven was very perceptive for six, and she didn't want him worrying about her relationship with his father. He was six, he didn't need to be worrying about stuff like that.

Somehow she had managed to be late enough to the school that Stevie, who enjoyed taking his time in packing up his stuff to ensure that he left nothing behind, had already exited his classroom and was excitedly talking to his classmate over about something. He hadn't even noticed her until she affectionately ruffled his bright red hair and greeted his classmate's mother. As of right now, she couldn't be bothered to remember their names, what mattered was getting Stevie to hockey.

An faux-sincere apology and excuse had her leading Stevie to the car, but what she wasn't expecting was for him to ask where his father was. She didn't know what to tell him, so she just lied and told him that Sami wasn't feeling well and that was why he wasn't with them. The excuse worked well, but she knew it would be shot to shit when they got home so Stevie could do his homework before leaving and Sami was there, still steaming and ready to continue their one-sided argument.

Fortunately, Sami wasn't following their usual trend when they argued with each other (he'd yell, she'd leave, and he'd stay and wait until she came back to finish the argument) but the downside was that he wasn't home. They only had one car in Montreal, her car, so that meant that he was out doing god-knows-what on foot. She couldn't help but worry, because he was her husband and not in his right frame of mind due to his concussion. Anything could happen.

"Mommy, if Daddy wasn't feeling well then why did he go on a walk?" Steven asked, bringing a piece of paper over to her. She immediately recognized Sami's neat handwriting, gently prying the notepaper away from her son and politely shooing him away to do his homework.

 _'Katie,_

 _Went on a walk to think things out. If I'm not home by super-dark, please come get me. You know where I'll be._

 _Love,_

 _Sami'_

"Fuck you." The brunette muttered under her breath, all anger towards her husband reignited and washing away whatever fear for his health and well-being that she once had. He yelled at her for what felt like no damn reason, walks out while she's away, then has the nerve to request that she pick his stupid ass up if he's not home by a certain time? Fuck that. If she had to pick him up then she was slapping the taste out of his mouth, to hell with his concussion, before he got anywhere near her. Livid was a fucking understatement and Sami would pay for this. Being a good wife and helping him get healthy again could wait until she put him back in his place and reminded him that living the "easy life" in Orlando and Montreal for the last few years didn't take the Philadelphia spunk out of her.

* * *

Sami was perched on a fire escape, just sitting in the dark. He had just recorded a video of his thoughts and feelings regarding NXT and sent it to Regal and now he was just waiting to feel the need to go home. He knew that he had to, but he knew that he had been out of line earlier and was terrified of getting the cold shoulder from Katie. She could hit and yell at him all she wanted, but he couldn't handle her ignoring him. That was the worst thing that she could ever do and she knew that.

He considered calling and asking to be picked up, but decided against it and eased himself onto his feet and made his way down the ladder to the sidewalk below. It was nine at night now and, if he walked fast, he'd be home by ten. As badly as he wanted her to come save him from having to walk home in the cold night, he knew that he was already in a deep enough hole and the last thing he wanted was to bury himself further.

So he zipped up his coat and pushed his hands into his pockets, making his focus getting home rather than anything else. He had a card to pick up dinner, but he knew that she had already fed their son since they had been home from his hockey practice for a long time. Stevie was most likely in bed by now and, if he wasn't, it was because he was waiting up for him. Which only made Sami feel worse about leaving the way that he did.

His need to make things right with his wife outweighed his need to be warm ad fed. He wasn't going to be eating until he had worked things out with his wife, but a store did catch his eye. He considered stopping in to that jewelry store, but remembered that his Katie couldn't be bought or buttered up by gifts when she was this pissed off at him. She was a woman of simple tastes, and he loved that about her from the beginning, but he hated that she couldn't be bought sometimes. Just because she had simple tastes didn't mean that she was a simple person. His wife was complex, but he wouldn't have it any other way.

As he expected, he was home two minutes before ten and was surprised to see the front door unlocked. He knew that she knew that he hadn't taken his house keys, and half expected for the door to be locked with the fake rock that hid the spare key hidden from him so that he had to beg from the front porch. She had a deep appreciation for making him beg for her attention when he had pissed him off, but this time wasn't like any of the others. He opened the door and found her laying on the sectional, almost waiting for him to come home. But when the door shut behind him she didn't move and he hoped that she had fallen asleep. But all that hope was for nothing, because she was wide awake and just staring at the blank television.

"I'm home."

"I see." She spoke plainly, her tone revealing just how mad she was at him. "Come to yell at me some more?"

"No, Kate, I'm actually trying to apologize." He spoke softly, sheepish smile on his face as she sat up and stared at him. She looked unimpressed with him but gestured for him to sit down before pulling one of her knees up to her chest and staring straight ahead. "I fucked up, said a lot of things that I didn't mean, and acted like an ungrateful brat. You do basically everything for me, especially right now, and you didn't deserve my lashing out at you like that. You did nothing wrong, and I took out my anger with Kevin out on you and I'm just so sorry. I was a shitty husband today, I know, but I'm going to make this up to you."

"How can I trust that?" She whispered, glancing over to see him facing her on the couch. The desperation was obvious in those dark eyes and she sighed, knowing that she couldn't deny him even though he crossed so many lines. He knew exactly what he had done wrong, and she couldn't not reward him for actually _thinking_ about what he had done when he had left home for hours.

"Because," He started, his voice dipping into his awful Spanish accent developed from his many years as "El Generico". She knew then that he was getting off the hook rather quickly, because she couldn't deny El Generico. She never had been and never would be. "El Generico es numero uno husband."

"No El Generico." She laughed when he started kissing her cheek repeatedly. She always gave him credit for being able to make her laugh, but using El Generico was cheating. She would let it slide this time, though.

"Si, El Generico."

"I hate you."

"I love you, too." He murmured, pulling her into his lap so he could hold her close to him. "And I'm so sorry, Katie."

"I'll forgive you, on a couple conditions."

"Name 'em, sweetheart. I'll do anything."

"You need to start thinking before you speak, I want a couple foot massages in the future, and you owe Stevie some Legos for not driving him to hockey today."

"Done." Sami spoke with a small smile, locking his pinkie with hers and bringing her hand to his lips. "Thank you for being so incredible."

"How so?" She asked, tilting her head back to look up at him. The smile on her face was nothing short of smug, and he'd let her have it because she was winning tonight.

"Dealing with my stupid ass for so long. You deserve an award."

"Somebody has to deal with you, and if I have to be honest I'm glad it's me and not some other lucky lady."

"Because El Generico es numero uno husband?" He asked as he lifted her up from the couch, ignoring the slight twinge in his shoulder that came from the movement. His wife wasn't heavy by any means, but something had happened to his shoulder when he was power-bombed onto the ring apron by Kevin at TakeOver and he hadn't told her about his shoulder hurting.

"Si, El Generico. Now take me to bed?"

"Don't mind if I do."


	3. Hometown Hero

It was three am Monday morning when Sami made it back to his home. After a month away from his wife and son he was missing them dearly, and it just worked out that Triple H wanted him traveling with the main roster to get him acquainted with main roster road-life. He couldn't wait to tell Katie that he would be heading up to the main roster if he beat Kevin at TakeOver: Unstoppable. Despite being excited to see his wife; Sami took his time as he entered the house and made sure to be silent as he did so. He made his rounds around the first floor of the house, making sure that all the doors and windows were locked before stopping in the kitchen to look at the fridge and smiled at the sight of a picture displayed proudly on the freezer. It was a picture of his family that Stevie had drawn and, while it wasn't a Van Gogh by any stretch of the imagination, it was still amazing. He knew that his son was creative, he just didn't know that he was so damn artistic. He then went over to the small island counter and glanced over the mail, seeing nothing of interest until his eyes caught the photo packet sitting there. It was already open so he didn't see any issue in looking through them, and he was glad that he did.

They were his son's hockey pictures. He remembered Stevie being so upset that he couldn't wear his newsboy hat, and he remembered standing beside his wife as they watched them take the pictures and being so happy that he wasn't missing it. He almost wished that he was still hurt so he could be home and get to live the life that "normal" dads lived.

Making breakfast for his wife and son as they got ready for their days before he went and worked out to help his body get back into fighting shape. Helping his son with his homework after school and watching his hockey practices and games. Being there when he was needed, being able to reach out and touch his wife because he wanted to, being able to make love to his wife almost every day and, most importantly, getting to see his wife and son in person every day and not through a screen. He knew that things would end up getting tough when they got together and she was more than just prepared for the ride, but that didn't stop nights from getting lonely when he was in Florida and she was in Montreal with their son. Sure they were always only a phone call or video chat away, but it wasn't the same as holding his wife in his arms and affectionately ruffling his son's hair in person.

But he was a "cool dad", according to his son, and that was alright with him. He got to beat people up for a living and do what he loved more than hockey, and his son thought that he was cool. His son, who didn't like to brag about his father's occupation, thought that he was cool. As long as he was his son's hero, he could learn to accept being away from home so often.

After he finished admiring his son's pictures, Sami took his suitcase and headed up the stairs. He stopped into his son's room and checked to make sure the window was locked before gently sitting down on Stevie's bed and gently stroking his cheek. He looked so much like his mother while he slept, and Sami thought that was amazing. He thought everything about his son was amazing, but looking like his father while awake and his mother while he slept easily took the cake.

"I'm going to figure out how to be around more often buddy, I promise." He whispered before kissing his son's forehead and leaving the room. His final stop was his bedroom where his wife was sleeping soundly, and Sami's smile widened when he realized that she was sleeping on his side of the bed. He left his suitcase by the closet before stripping down to his briefs and climbing into bed behind her and wrapping his arms around her. But he didn't get the warm welcome he was expecting, instead hearing her shriek in surprise before hitting him in the head with a pillow and squirming away from him.

"What the fuck, Katie!?" He shouted in surprise as he grabbed the pillow, forgetting that it was three in the morning and their son was sleeping down the hall. He was more concerned about the fact that his wife would attack him with a pillow when he was trying to be sweet and surprise her. Any hope for a sweet moment where he got to hold onto her and watch her sleep was completely shot to shit if the look in her eyes meant anything.

"Don't you 'what the fuck' me!" She shouted back, sitting up and glaring down at him. "You _know_ that you have to wake a bitch up before you just slide into bed!"

"We've been married for five years!"

"Doesn't mean shit when you're sliding into bed unannounced after a month away from home! You could've been anybody, Sami." Katie spoke softly, having calmed down just a bit. "I'm sorry for flipping out but you scared me, babe."

"I'm sorry, too, Kates. I'll keep that in mind for next time, alright?" Sami assured, pulling her down into his arms and rolling them so that he was laying on his side of the bed. "I scared you, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean, the house is secure and everything but when I don't have you here it's always a bit scary because I don't have my protector with me." She confessed, looking up at her husband to see that contemplative look on his face as he stared up at the ceiling. "Besides, what if my luchador lover had been here? You would've scared him off too."

"El Generico comes to pay you visits?" He asked with a smile, rubbing her back as she nodded. "Maybe he'll stop by when I'm actually home."

"Please don't."

"I dunno."

"It was a joke."

"Sounded kinda serious."

"I'm going to kill you." Katie laughed, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "Fucking dork."

"But you fell in love with my dorkiness."

"I fell in love with your pretty face and winning personality. You climbing up my fire escape to serenade me and ending up serenading my elderly neighbor while Colt blasted _Livin' on a Prayer_ from his car at two in the morning was just the icing on the cake."

"I knew you would love it." He spoke with a cheeky grin, kissing the top of her head. "Are you and Stevie going to RAW?"

"Nah, we were going to watch from home."

"Do you wanna go?"

"Stevie doesn't like being backstage."

"Which is why I conjured up front row seats a couple months ago."

"What are you planning?" She asked, and Sami knew that tone all too well. The "I know you're up to something" tone that he couldn't lie his way out of most of the time.

"I'm planning on spending a night with my family where I'm Sami Zayn the husband and father and not Sami Zayn the wrestler." He knew as soon as he spoke those words that he would regret them, the way his wife looked at him skeptically before smiling told him that he was screwed. He could only imagine how she'd react when he left to "use the restroom" and ended up strutting down the ramp to wrestle John Cena for the United States Championship. She definitely would not be pleased. "Let's get some sleep, okay? I'm beat from the flight."

"Alright. Night, Sami."

"Bonne nuit mon amour."

* * *

"Excited, buddy?" Sami asked from where he sat in the driver's seat, looking back at his son in the rear view mirror to see him drawing in a notebook. A small shrug of the shoulders was the only response he got and he looked over to his wife in slight confusion.

"He zones out while he draws, don't take it personally." Katie explained, placing her hand on his thigh and giving a gentle squeeze.

"When did this start?"

"A couple weeks ago. He's eaten dinner late a couple times just because I called up there and he didn't hear me because he was so in the zone."

"That's weird to me."

"You do it too, mon nounours, so I don't know why."

"I do?" He asked, taking her hand off of his thigh and holding it in hers. She gave a small nod and he looked over at her in bewilderment.

"All the time, and you always have. You get so focused on something, anything, and it's damn near impossible to pull your attention away from it. Whether you're reading something or watching something on TV, once you're focused you're gone."

"Huh. Well then, I'll admit defeat this time around."

"Good. 'Cause you can walk home." Katie teased, leaning over the center console to kiss his cheek. Sami couldn't help but grin as she sat back down, looking over at his wife to see her with her trademark smile that he fell in love with in the first place. "How weird is it going to be for you to watch the show from the audience seats and not backstage?"

"Probably weirder than I felt while you were giving birth and I went to see what it looked like to see Stevie come out."

"I still can't believe you did that." Katie laughed as Sami brought her hand to his lips. "I needed you and you had to go throw up in the trash can."

"I have apologized for that so many times mon amour, and have promised that it won't happen again."

"I would hope that you wouldn't make that mistake with our next child. But I do have to ask you something while our dearest first born is distracted."

"Yeah?"

"His birthday is in July. I know summers are busy for the company, babe, but are you going to be able to take a couple days off to be here with us on his birthday?"

"Katie…"

"Sami." She half-whined, making him feel bad about possibly being called up to the main roster. But he wasn't going to lose to Kevin intentionally for this. She and Stevie were going to have to get used to this, unfortunately. "Not again."

"Last year was a scheduling mistake and NXT was huge last year. I'll talk to the higher ups but I can't make any promises Katie."

"Regal loves Stevie and so does Dusty so I don't see why-"

"If I win at TakeOver Regal and Dusty won't be my higher ups come July twenty first."

"What are you saying?"

"If I win, I get called up and you _know_ what that means."

"What does that mean?" Stevie asked as Sami stopped at a red light, getting attention from both of his parents. They both looked back at him, Katie not wanting to have this conversation at all because right now it was a possibility. There was no need to disappoint him when there was nothing set in stone. "Mom?"

"Stevie, you have to understand that nothing is set in stone right now so this conversation technically doesn't matter." Sami started glancing back to make sure that the light was still red before looking back to his son. "But, if I beat Kevin at TakeOver they're going to put me on the main roster and the summer is the busiest time of the year for the WWE."

"So you're going to miss my birthday again?"

"It's a possibility. I'm going to talk to my bosses about it, but I can't make any promises because it's a busy time of the year." Sami assured, but he could see that his son wasn't upset. Maybe he had accepted this part of the reality of having a NXT/WWE Superstar as a parent? But he was so young, which had Sami guessing that his son was just putting up a front as to avoid upsetting his parents.

"Light's green, habibi." Katie informed before offering a smile to her son. "Like your dad said, there's nothing set in stone so we don't want you worrying about this right now. We'll keep you updated but don't worry about it right now."

"Okay. If Dad can't make it, its okay. I understand."

 _How did I get blessed with a son as smart and level headed as his mother?_ Sami asked himself as he turned into the arena parking lot. "Are we cheating and using the talent entrance?"

"We are doing this as casual fans and praying that you don't get noticed." Katie decided, grinning over at Sami when he let out a playful groan. The couple was fully aware of the fact that they'd have to talk everything over while they weren't in front of their son, but for now they'd act as if everything was alright so that they could all have a good night together as a family.

It was so far so good as they got to their seats and Sami had to admit that sitting in the audience was fucking foreign. Nobody had recognized him, partial credit to Katie for slamming a baseball hat over his bright red hair instead of his typical newsboy hat and the fact that he was wearing a plain tshirt. His wife, who he had posted a picture of on twitter so people knew her face in association with his, was wearing a Paige tshirt and Stevie was wearing a Canadiens tshirt. There wasn't a trace of Sami Zayn in the family of three besides the 6-foot-one, red headed, 30 year old Sami Zayn who was obnoxiously laughing at an observation made by his wife.

"Even with your hat on, your stupid beard gives us away."

"You told me when we got married that if I ever shaved my beard we'd get divorced!" He laughed, leaning his head against the barricade in an effort to calm himself. Katie could only laugh quietly as she rubbed his back, trying not to draw any further attention to them. She loved being out and having fun with her husband, being secretive about it was only adding to the fun.

"Bet you can't wait until you're playing hockey here, huh kiddo?" Sami asked once he had finally regained control of himself, looking over to his son in time to see him nod excitedly. "Remember, your mom and I want season tickets and to be able to pose with the cup every year you win it."

"And they can't throw you away like Edmonton did to Gretzky." Katie added, giving her son a mock serious expression. "You'll be the next Gretzky, right?"

"You and Dad didn't birth a loser."

"I never said that."

"Dad did." Stevie through his father under the bus and Katie rolled her eyes as she muttered an 'of course he did' under her breath. Sami only smiled at his wife, kissing her cheek when she rolled her eyes at him playfully. He checked the time on his phone and grimaced when he saw that he only had twenty minutes to get ready for his match.

"I've gotta pee, Kates. Stevie, do you need to go?"

"No, I'm good." The six year old brushed him off, his eyes glued to the action going on in the ring.

"Hurry back." Katie requested, giving her husband a quick peck on the lips before he stood and headed towards the entrance. She knew by the way he was hustling that there was something off, but she didn't want to worry about it right now and instead turned her attention back to the action in the ring like her son.

* * *

"You had me worried, kid." Hunter stated as he saw Sami in his gear and headed towards gorilla. "Everything okay at home?"

"Fine. I was sitting front row with my wife and son and lost track of time for a moment."

"Do they know?"

"No. It'll be a nice surprise for Stevie, but I know Katie is going to be upset with me for keeping this from her." Sami explained, already fearing the wrath of his wife for when the show was over. All he had to do was make sure that he didn't further injure himself and he'd be okay. She'd cease her worrying and all would be right in the world. But he had this feeling that everything wasn't going to work out in his favor tonight.

"I've got a surprise for you, kid."

"Yeah?"

"There's this Hall of Famer that wants to introduce you, he's Canadian and a fan of yours."

"Yeah?"

"Bret Hart."

"Holy shit."

* * *

"Dad's been gone for a long time." Stevie commented, looking up at his mother while John Cena spoke in the ring about opportunities and whatnot. Stevie wasn't a big Cena fan and neither was Katie, she admired his charity work but not much else, so they were using this time as a breather to relax and take pictures together.

"Yeah, he has."

"Do you think he got lost?"

"Your dad has been here too many times to get lost." She brushed off his concern, taking another picture of her son as Cena continued to drone on.

"Oh. Well don't worry Mom. Maybe there was a line?"

 _He had better hope that it was a line._ She thought to herself, grinning when a familiar guitar riff blared through out the arena and she was thankful that she managed to get video of her son excitedly shouting about Bret Hart dethroning John Cena. Sami had taught Stevie all about the wrestling that he had grown up with, ensuring that his son had as deep of a respect for the classics who paved the way as he did for the younger wrestlers, and as a result of Sami's teaching Stevie was a massive fan of the Hart foundation. He was more of a Jim "The Anvil" kind of kid, but he did look up to Bret Hart too.

Katie was hanging onto Bret's every word, knowing that the Excellence of Execution wasn't challenging for the title but instead opening for whoever was, which had her wondering who and even more upset that Sami was missing this. She knew it was probably Tyson Kidd or Cesaro, since Kidd was family and Cesaro was like family to Kidd which made him Bret's family by a couple degrees of separation. She wasn't expecting Slater to come out running his mouth, but she was pleased to see him get dropped like a bad habit before Bret really announced the challenger.

"Sami Zayn!"

"WHAT!?" Stevie shouted, standing up with his mother as they watched the ramp in awe. Sure enough, Sami came strutting out all fired up and ready to go, and Katie didn't know whether or not she wanted to strangle her husband or cry tears of joy at the warm reception he received from his hometown crowd. Her eyes stayed locked on her husband's form as she continued to watch in shock, but that shock quickly turned to worry when he threw his arms up to rev up the crowd some more and she saw that flash of pain cross his face.

Watching this match was almost as painful as watching him fight Kevin at TakeOver. He was hurt, and he was choosing to continue with the match anyway despite the fact that he had a huge grudge match coming up against the one asshole on the planet who would make it his mission to use that injury to end Sami's career. This had her leaning more towards strangling her husband as the match progressed, but she was still proud as hell. He was making his way up the ladder, and she couldn't be more proud of him. But being proud didn't mean that she didn't want to strangle him for this little scheme of his. She knew that he was up to something, she knew it, and yet she blew it off. Had she not blown it off then maybe he wouldn't have gotten hurt like this. But if he didn't get hurt here against Cena, then it would've gone undetected until TakeOver and Kevin would be the guy to make it much worse.

But she had to think back to the last few face-to-face interactions that she had with her husband and realized just how protected his right shoulder always was. Even with Stevie, he was always making sure that his left shoulder took the brunt of anything. If he carried anything, it was majority with his left arm and not his right. And then it all made sense. He had been hiding his injury from her all this time. She definitely wanted to strangle him now, and would probably be cold shouldering him tonight to get her point across that he was a huge dick for hiding this from her. And the fact that he was pulling off high risk moves _knowing_ that he was hurt and _knowing_ that he had a huge match in a little over two weeks against an asshole who was most likely watching and making note of how hurt he was.

"Mom, you're mad."

"Don't worry about it, Stevie. Everything is going to be fine."

"Even dad?"

"Even your father." Katie assured, smiling down at her son and leaning in to kiss his forehead affectionately so that she didn't have to watch Sami get pinned. Cena had won, which she expected, but she wasn't expecting to see Sami looking so heartbroken. Sure it was a match in his hometown with their son sitting front row, but losing was nothing to be upset over. As mad as she was at her husband, she hoped that he was just emotional about being cheered on by the hometown crowd and being given respect by Cena rather than being upset that he lost. She didn't like seeing him teary eyed, but she clapped and cheered for her husband along with the rest of the Bell Center because she was proud as hell. He was just an 'NXT kid', but he came up and he blew this opportunity out of the water. Had he not been injured, then he would've beat Cena. She knew that. But this was just as incredible because he had tens of thousands of people cheering for him and him alone, which was better than winning in her opinion.

She watched with teary eyes as her husband finally exited the ring, and headed towards her and their son. She couldn't help but take his sweaty face in her hands. She could see the pain and disappointment in his eyes and just wanted to kiss it away for him, which was why she didn't complain when he rest his sweaty forehead against hers.

"Je suis tellement fière de toi, mais je vais vous tuer."

"Je sais, ma chérie." Sami whispered, using his uninjured arm to wipe away the lone tear that had fallen before he kissed her forehead. "Go to the back, please."

Katie could only nod, pecking his lips with a smile in an effort to see his smile. She wasn't surprised when he just kissed her again before making his way to the back with one of the ringside doctors, she knew that he was in no mood to smile just yet. He needed a few minutes to reflect, and then once she made him smile she would rip into him for his "great idea".

* * *

"You're mad at me." Sami commented, watching his wife as she looked over the mail for the day. They had been home for a couple hours, since Katie was driving she stopped to pick up food to keep Stevie occupied in his room for a while so she could talk to her stupid husband without prying ears. Of course she spent most of that time ignoring her husband despite wanting to cuddle him and make him feel better, but there were just things she couldn't let slide. Him lying and hiding an injury from her were things she couldn't look passed.

"Livid would be the proper word to use."

"I just wanted you and Stevie to be proud of me."

"So you hide a fucking injury and _lie_ to me about why you're really home?" She asked, throwing whatever she had been reading onto the counter. "Sami Zayn the 'husband and father' wouldn't have pulled this stunt and lied about wanting me to be proud of you. You just wanted to show off for Kevin to show him that you haven't lost your edge. Well guess what, dick? Now he knows about that shoulder injury you've worked _so hard_ to hide."

"Katie, I-"

"You have a match in seventeen days, Sami! Did you not think about that, or did you think your shoulder would hold up in a match against John fucking Cena?"

"I don't know what I was thinking, Katie!" Sami finally snapped, sitting down at the dining table and running a hand through his hair. "I just wanted to do something special. Hometown crowd and my family in the audience, there's nothing better than that."

"I wish you thought things through a bit more." She muttered, leaning against the island counter and making eye contact with her husband. "You're still going to wrestle at TakeOver, aren't you?"

"I have to."

"Stevie and I won't be there. I can't sit there and watch you get hurt some more, nor will I allow our son to watch you suffer. Last time was so brutal, Sam, and I just- no." Her voice cracked and Sami couldn't stand the way she was crying. He hated when she cried in general, but the fact that she was crying over him was something that he hated. He wasn't supposed to be the reason that she cried. Ever.

So he stood and made his way into the kitchen, wrapping his good arm around her waist and pulling her trembling body into his. He eased them to the floor while he tried his best to console her, whispering assurances and apologies to her as he rubbed her back. This wasn't how he pictured spending his night, but he'd take it. But he knew that he wasn't going to be able to carry her to bed, so they were either sleeping on the kitchen floor or he was somehow maneuvering her to the couch.

"Couch or bed, habibi?"

"Whatever's easier for you."

"Its not about me right now, sweetheart. Lets head up to bed alright?" He suggested, helping her to her feet when she nodded. Sami wasn't at all surprised when his wife just stripped down to her underwear and threw herself into bed, and he hated that he had to undress slowly to avoid bringing too much pain to his shoulder. It wasn't too long before he had her head on his chest and he was rubbing her back as they both worked on going to sleep. "I'll make this up to you, Kates."

"You always do."

* * *

Translations (credit to google translate):

"Je suis tellement fière de toi, mais je vais vous tuer." - "I'm so proud of you, but I'm going to kill you."

"Je sais, ma chérie." - "I know, sweetheart."


	4. Appointments

_Why is it that every time I come back to the United States, it's because my husband has done something stupid?_ Katie asked herself as she and Sami were situated at a red light. He had an MRI appointment today and he didn't want to go alone which is why she hopped a flight to Florida to be with him. She knew that she'd always run to him when he admitted that he needed her by his side, but she wished that he didn't only need her when he was hurt. And Sami…. He was beating himself up about this which was another reason why he needed her.

They both knew that this appointment was going to lead to him taking some time out of the ring, there was no other direction for it to go. But Katie knew that Sami was beating himself up for letting it get so bad. It was like he was mentally punishing himself for being so stubborn and Katie hated when he did that because it was _her_ job to beat him up for stuff like that. She also hated seeing him so lost in his thoughts. He looked so sad, and she didn't like seeing him upset. He was her teddy bear; he was supposed to be cuddly and happy, not pouty and sad as he stared out the window.

"What's on your mind?" She asked quietly as the light turned green, glancing over to her husband briefly to see that he hadn't moved and was still staring out the window. "Talk to me, Sam."

"I don't know that you really want to know what's on my mind. I know for sure that I don't like it."

"Which is even more reason for you to tell me."

"Its…I dunno Kates. Complicated isn't the right word but I just don't-"

"You're scared." She interrupted, knowing that his rambling meant that he was worried about something at the very least. "Talk. To. Me."

"What if this is something that I can't bounce back from? What if I can never wrestle again? All I've ever had was wrestling to help support our family, what if I lose it before my career ever really takes off?"

"You're right, I didn't want to know." Katie muttered, squeezing the steering wheel in order to keep her emotions in check. Sami was probably emotional enough for the both of them right now, therefore she needed to keep her cool for the time being. "But I can't say that I haven't thought about it, too."

"You have?"

"I think this is something that every spouse of a wrestler ponders from time to time. It's not something I think about often or even enjoy thinking about for that matter, but it has crossed my mind."

"And?"

"And what? All I can say is that is that I'm grateful that you haven't been paralyzed by that dick and your stupid male pride."

"Small favors, right?" Sami chuckled and Katie nodded with a small smile.

"Small favors." She repeated, following his unspoken instruction to turn left. "But I figured that they'd be kind enough to put you on panels or something to keep you paid by the company. I dunno..."

"I thought you'd want me home more."

"Not under those circumstances." Katie denied his claim, sighing as the building they were headed to came into view. "I never want you sitting at home because you're hurt."

"But that's the only reason I've been able to go home recently."

"And it's depressing as fuck." She stated, turning into the parking lot and parking in the first available spot. "Which is why we're here. We're going to find out what you did to your shoulder and find out what we need to do to fix it so we can get you healthy again. I don't like seeing you hurt, Sami. I understand that it's part of the job and can happen at any time, but I don't accept it and I certainly don't like it."

"I know, and I appreciate that you keep quiet about that disturbing part of my career and support me regardless. You're an A-plus wife, dearest Katherine."

"And then I'm reminded of the fact that I married a dork." Kate mumbled, opening her car door and stepping out. Florida was uncomfortably warm for her standards this time of year, but she'd suffer though and suffer silently for her husband's sake. The very same husband who took her hand in his as they made the walk across the parking lot and into the medical center. "No matter what happens in there, Sami, you're still our son's hero."

"Not yours?"

"I'm more of an El Generico fan."

"I hate you."

"Who drove?" She asked as they entered the medical center and Sami couldn't help but chuckle as they approached the front counter. "Be nice to she who holds the car keys."

"Happy wife, happy life." Sami spoke with a smile, kissing his wife's cheek before asking the receptionist where he needed to be for his MRI. It wasn't too long before Katie was helping him out of his clothes and into a hospital gown, pinching at his exposed backside and grinning when he looked back at her in shock as they sat down on the exam table together.

"Can you blame me?" She asked, rubbing at his lower back while he smiled down at her.

"Not at all. I grab your ass all the time."

"But that's a possessive thing, Sam, not a 'oh look there's an ass to pinch' thing."

"I can't believe that you just said that." Katie giggled, leaning her head on his uninjured shoulder. "Let's hope for the best, yeah?"

"Always, mon amour. I'm sorry that I'm a stubborn ass."

"You're prideful. Still a stubborn ass, but very prideful."

"But I'm your prideful and stubborn ass."

"This is true." She agreed as a nurse came in to lead them to the MRI room. Katie waited patiently, knowing that this would take a while and instead decided to figure out how things were going to go if this were worst case scenario.

Sami's career ending wasn't something they'd be prepared for totally. He was still young, so young, with a long career ahead of him. And to lose all of that like this, he'd never forgive himself for working the way that he did. But they'd work passed it together, and figure out where they'd go. Maybe he could commentate? Or he could help out with training at the performance center? Or maybe he'd be able to step away from wrestling and go into real estate with her? Or maybe be a language instructor. He knew three languages fluently, therefore he'd be able to teach French or Arabic to people. He taught her, so he could teach anybody.

"Katie, I'm done."

"How long have you been standing there?" She asked, quickly realizing that he was still wearing that hospital gown.

"Thirty seconds. Give or take a second or two. But can we go get me dressed? My ass is getting cold."

"Yes, of course."

"What were you thinking so hard about?" He asked, taking her hand in his as they walked back to the exam room that his clothes were in.

"Possibilities for our future if this turned out to be worst case scenario." She answered honestly, looking up to see him nod slowly with a small frown on his face. "I'm trying to mentally prepare myself, Sam."

"I know, Kates. I'm not bothered by that, I'm just-I dunno. I don't want to stop wrestling."

"And I don't want you to stop." Katie responded, opening the door for him and making sure to lock it behind them. "And you won't stop. I've got a somewhat good feeling about this."

"Yeah?" Sami asked as he sat down on the exam table, watching his wife unfold his tshirt.

"Mhm." She hummed, kissing his forehead before untying his gown and pulling it away from his body. "If only we weren't in public."

"You locked the door."

"Yeah, but I'm certain the walls here are thin." She shot down the idea, helping him pull his shirt on and frowning when he winced a bit. "You're going to be shirtless for a while after this."

"We're in Florida in May, it's possible." He agreed, smiling up at her for the first time in hours. "If I need surgery, what's the game plan?"

"Stevie has three weeks of hockey camp starting the week after school gets out and I don't want to leave you alone in Florida while you're recovering but I don't want to pull him from the camp especially since we've already paid for it."

"I'm sure my parents won't mind watching him and the house for those three weeks. They were so happy to take care of him for the week so you could be with me."

"True." Katie murmured as she unfolded his jeans. "And I'm sure Stevie would like to spend the rest of his summer in Florida. We could go to Disney and Universal studios so he can finally see the Harry Potter thing."

"Sounds like a plan." Sami agreed, watching his wife kneel down to help get his jeans on. He knew that he owed her some serious affection and actual use of his common sense to repay her for everything he had put her through emotionally the past couple months and for everything she was doing for him. "I owe you the world, Katie."

"You give me the world already, Sami."

"I'll have to go find another one to give you, then."

"I don't want the world, Sami." She spoke softly, holding onto the belt loops as he stood so she could pull his pants up and button them. "All I want is to be happy with you and our son. Possibly another baby in the future but there's no rush on that."

"I'd like to wait until our lives calmed down a bit but whatever happens works for me, too."

"Yeah. So, are we free to go or are they going over your results today?"

"They want us to come in tomorrow to go over the results and discuss whatever is necessary to be done."

"We can do that."

* * *

This wasn't the first time that Katie had been seated beside her husband in a hospital-like environment, but this was the first time she had to sit and listen to a doctor tell explain to them what needed to be done surgically to correct the injury he had sustained. She hated that this was how badly Kevin had hurt her husband and she was even more upset that her husband's stubborn tendencies made it so much worse. She still couldn't wrap her head around him needing surgery. But it was necessary and they'd have to figure out their arrangement. Sure they'd discussed possibilities for how things could go just the day before, but now they needed a true set-in-stone plan because there was no way she was letting him go at any of this alone.

"What's my estimated time out of the ring?" Had been Sami's first question once the doctor had finished explaining the procedure and Katie fought back a sigh at that. She understood why getting back in the ring ASAP was possible, but sometimes she wished that it wasn't a constant thought in his head. But she stayed quiet and kept her hand in his tight grip, not at all surprised to hear that the doctor estimated three to six months out of the ring. Closer to six, due to how badly he was actually hurt and how much he'd have to rehab it. A torn rotator cuff wasn't something that you just "bounced back" from in six to eight weeks, and Katie knew that it would take a couple days for Sami to wrap his head around it.

"So now what? We schedule his surgery and just keep him in the sling until then and we get different instructions or what?" She asked, knowing that Sami didn't want to keep wearing the sling but needing confirmation from the doctor that she was right in forcing him to wear it. "I just need to know what I need to do to keep him from letting himself make it worse unintentionally."

"Definitely keep the sling on when you're not sleeping. I'm certain that you're not sleeping on that side?"

"Of course not." Katie answered for Sami, subconsciously squeezing his hand for support. She wasn't sure if she was supporting him or reassuring herself that he was there with her, but it felt good to have him squeeze back gently.

"Try not to use it at all until you have the surgery and get other orders."

"Sounds like a plan." Sami chimed in, smiling down at Katie to assure her that everything would be okay. They had talked about it all night and on the car ride to the medical center that morning, but he knew his wife too well and knew that her mind was going a mile a minute about everything going on around them. The surgery, what she'd have to do to take care of both him and their son, how this would affect his career, and everything else that she could possibly be considering. She thought about it all.

After thanking the doctor and heading out, Sami suggested that they go out and get lunch together. It wasn't going to do them any good to sit in the studio apartment he rented and stare at each other for the day but, while Katie understood what he was trying to do, she didn't want to be out and about. It was harder for her to think when they were out in public and he knew that. She appreciated him trying to calm down her train of thoughts, but her concern was Sami and not her oncoming headache.

Which was why she was seated across from him at a booth, drumming her nails against the tabletop while she looked out the window. Sami just watched her think, ordering their drinks without pulling her from her thoughts and just letting her sit until he knew that she needed to think about something other than him.

"Hey, Kates, you need to eat something honey." He spoke softly, taking her hand in his on the tabletop to cease her drumming and capture her attention at the same time. "Please just relax."

"Surgery, Sam. You need surgery. I always hoped that it wouldn't come to something like this but-"

"But here we are and it's partially my fault so I know you're kinda mad while you're trying to wrap your head around it." He interrupted, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Here we are, and we're going to get passed this just like we've passed every other hurdle."

"But Sami, I-"

"We always get some stupid shit thrown at us Katie. There was a point in time where we were absolutely toxic for each other yet, somehow, we survived. We always survive and we're going to survive this. It's just a torn rotator cuff."

"But you're not going to be happy sitting on the sidelines for close to half a year."

"If it even takes that long. I could pull a John Cena and be back in two to three months, you never know."

"This is true."

"And here is a light at the end of this seemingly dark tunnel."

"What's that?"

"I get to spend Canada Day, your Independence Day, and Stevie's birthday with my family. I get to spend some of the summer with my wife and son and we can vacation and do family things that we don't really get to do."

"Yeah." Katie murmured, smiling up at her husband when he started gently stroking the back of her hand with his thumb. "I'm just trying to figure out how to get all my ducks in a row and I'm most likely overthinking it."

"If you didn't overthink things you wouldn't be you, Kates."

She couldn't even argue his point, which had a smug grin on Sami's face until she pulled her hand away and finally picked up her menu. He could only chuckle, knowing that she was just being playful when one of her feet came to rest on his thigh and she looked over her menu at him.

"I'm assuming you already ordered drinks."

"Coke zeros for the both of us as usual but I was thinking that we could share a shake with our food."

"What makes you think that I want to share with you?"

"Because you love me."

"You'd just like to use that straw to suck my soul up along with the shake." Katie teased, setting down her menu once she saw what she wanted to eat.

"Always the ginger jokes with you."

"They always make you smile. Do you know what you're having?"

"I figured that you'd get a BLT so I was going to wait until you ordered so that I could say 'I'll have what she's having'." He joked, knowing that she had a love hate relationship with him. She hated the phrase in general, thinking it was way too cheesy, but she liked hearing him talk so she didn't mind him saying it so much.

"Such a dork."

"I'm your dork."


	5. Summer

"Ready?" Katie asked, looking over at her husband as the SUV took them to the medical center in Birmingham, Alabama where Sami's surgery was going to take place in a little over an hour. Triple H had been kind enough to pay for the car service for them and hotel accommodations for the night and Katie was grateful for it. She was tired and hungry, but she wouldn't be able to eat until Sami's operation had started because he wasn't allowed to eat anything and she wasn't cruel enough to eat in front of him despite various requests from him for her to eat something.

"Yeah." Sami replied, confident as ever, more than ready to get his shoulder fixed so that he could jump right into rehab and get back into the ring. His hand gripped her's just a bit tighter, the cold metal of her engagement and wedding rings pressing into his finger and making him smile inwardly. "I'm kinda scared though."

"No need, Sam. I'm right beside you all the way." She spoke softly, scooting closer to him so she could cup his cheek with her free hand. "You didn't trim your beard this morning like I asked, though."

"It wasn't that unkempt. I groomed and went about my morning."

"If you don't trim it soon you're going to look homeless."

"That's what you say to Cabana when he gets stubble. The threat doesn't work on me, sweetheart." He teasingly warned, leaning in to rub his bearded cheek against her smooth one. "Because even if I looked like a bum, I'd be a cute bum and I'd be your bum and you'd be happy that I was yours and not some other woman's."

"No other woman could deal with you for as long as I have been."

"And that is why I love and admire you so much. You're my strength, Kates."

"That was so sappy, Sam."

"I know, but I'm being serious Katie." He spoke softly, kissing her cheek with a small smile. "You're my everything."

"Please don't quote your wedding vows to me right now "

"But there is something that I need to tell you."

"Hm?"

"I told the WWE that they could film a bit before and after my surgery for NXT."

"You could've given me this information sooner." She sighed, gently squeezing his hand. "But it's fine, really. Nothing I can't handle."

"I know I should've told you sooner, I just wasn't really thinking about it until right now."

"Understandable. There's a lot on your mind right now, Sami." Katie spoke softly as the car came to a stop and she made sure to smile up at her husband. "Ready for this?"

"More than just ready." He spoke with a grin, leaning in and kissing her lips as the door was opened for them. "I can't wait until they put me under so you'll finally eat."

"I thought you'd appreciate me not wanting to be cruel." Katie murmured, watching as Sami eased himself out of the suv and making sure that he didn't use his injured arm for anything or bump it against the car.

"I do, babe, I do. But I don't like you sacrificing your health for the sake of being sweet to me." He explained, holding his hand out for her to take. After a moment of careful consideration Katie decided to make him feel better and took his hand, knowing that he would've felt as though she was doubting his strength. But as soon as both her feet were on the ground, Katie released his hand and opted for cuddling into his side and wrapping her arm around his waist as they entered the medical center. "Let's get me fixed."

"Not fixed, Sam. Healthy."

"Very right. If I was fixed, we couldn't have another baby."

"We could adopt." She mused, smiling at the receptionist while Sami gave her his name. "Being perfectly honest, I don't think Stevie is patient enough to wait through an entire pregnancy."

"If he's anything like me then we know that he won't be patient enough." He laughed, leading his wife over to the elevator. "I was close to hoping that you'd give birth a couple weeks early."

"You're ridiculous." Katie giggled, pushing the button to call the elevator before kissing his cheek. "But you're my ridiculous bum of a husband."

"I will trim my beard as soon as we get home." He assured, kissing her head as they stepped onto the elevator.

It was only about ten minutes before Katie was helping her husband out of his clothes and into a hospital gown, growing increasingly nervous with every article of clothing she carefully removed from his body and he could tell. He knew her better than she knew herself, having memorized all of her tells and nervous habits as if they were his own. They'd discussed this operation thoroughly, every possible outcome covered and planned for, and he didn't know how to ease whatever worries she may have had running through her head.

"Hey Katies?" He called out to her quietly from where he laid in the bed, gently squeezing her hand with a smile.

"Yeah, Sam?"

"Thank you for being here with me and going through all of this by my side. I know you had to make a lot of arrangements and I appreciate you doing all of this even though it was my stupidity and pride that got me into this mess."

"Don't thank me for this. I'm your wife and, while we made up our own vows, 'for better or worse' was still implied when we got married." She spoke with a small smile, squeezing his hand as she thought about her next words. "I love you, Sami Zayn. Stupidity, pride, and everything else that makes you the amazing dork that you are."

"How did I get so lucky to have you?"

"I ask myself the same question every day." She murmured as the WWE camera crew walked in, but she wasn't going to move. This was her husband and she didn't care if she messed with their footage.

* * *

Her eyes were constantly flicking between the clock on the wall in the waiting room and her phone, where a game of solitaire was half-played and waiting patiently for her to make her next move, but her focus wasn't really on her phone. They should be finishing up Sami's surgery by now, and she was waiting to hear the verdict on how the operation went. She was nervous for Sami, because time off never really did him any good mentally, and terrified of the idea that the issue was worse than originally thought and his return date was pushed back. Or worse, Sami never could never wrestle again? She didn't know what she'd do if this turned out to be worst case scenario. She didn't know what he'd do and that was even worse. Sure they had discussed everything, but talking it out and actually having to _live_ through a scenario were two totally different things.

The sound of the door opening had Katie looking up to see Sami's surgeon come into the room with a smile on his face. That was a relief, meaning the surgery went well, and she was quick to stand and follow him out of the waiting room and towards Sami's recovery room while he explained how the first few weeks of his recovery should go before he could be cleared to start physical therapy.

She wasn't expecting four to six weeks of keeping his shoulder immobilized, and she knew Sami would hate it, but it was what needed to be done and she'd make sure that Sami abided by that. This wasn't the time for him to be prideful and make his injury worse. She'd watch him like a hawk if she had to. Well, she'd have Finn watch him like a hawk since the Irishman had been texting her wanting update's on Sami's condition for the last hour.

"…and just call for a nurse when he starts to wake up, alright?"

"You got it." Katie assured, shaking the doctor's hand before taking her seat at her husband's bedside and gently taking his hand in both of hers. "Now is when things'll get tough, Sam, but I need you to know that I'm on your team. All the way. Start to finish. I've got your back, but I'm really going to need you to do me a favor and actually listen. Listen to the doctor, listen to your coaches and physical therapists. It'll be hard, but they only want what's best for you and I'll need you to remember that."

"How unconscious did you think I was?" He mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes to see the startled look on her face. "What's the verdict?"

"Everything went well. They'll have to check you again in about four to six weeks before they can clear you for physical therapy, though."

"What'd I do 'til then?"

"You have to keep it immobilized." She spoke softly, calling for the nurse as she was instructed to do and bringing his hand to her lips so she could kiss his knuckles.

"Immobilized? As in not moving it at all?"

"That's what immobilized means, Sam."

"I hate that fucking sling." He muttered, looking up to see the concerned look on his wife's face. As much as he hated the sling, he hated when she made that face at him more. "Don't look at me like that. I'll listen, and I'll cooperate."

"Thank you, Sami." Katie whispered, smiling as the doctor came in and sighing when the WWE cameras followed. She wanted this day to be over solely for the fact that it would mean not having a camera by her head.

She listened intently as the doctor gave Sami a basic rundown of how the surgery went and what he'd have to do to take care of it, but after that she tuned out. Her focus was getting him back to Florida to and figuring out their arrangements for what he was going to do while she handled closing out the school year with Stevie. Finn was her first choice, Enzo and Cass were her second. She knew that Sami wouldn't appreciate her suggesting that he needed a babysitter, but he'd need a second arm for something and if she found out that he was using his arm she'd kill him. First over the phone, then over FaceTime so he could _see_ how upset she was, then finally in person so he could feel her cold shoulder.

"You're in your head again, Kates." Sami mumbled, squeezing her hand in an effort to snap her away from her thoughts.

"Sorry, Sam. Just trying to figure out what I'm going to do with you while I'm up North."

"Finn said that I could bother him while you were handling things up in Montreal. I know you were trying to think of who would be able to babysit me."

"He's my first choice. I actually need to text him and let him know that your surgery went well."

"Can we FaceTime him?"

"Yes, we can FaceTime your boyfriend." Katie teased, sitting on the edge of the bed and leaning back into her husband as she sent his mother a text to update her on Sami's condition.

* * *

He didn't understand why he was so antsy. It wasn't the first time he'd waited for his wife's plane to land, but some reason he couldn't stop bouncing his foot as he waited. Maybe it was because this was the first summer in his seven years of fatherhood that he'd actually be able to _be_ with his son all summer with little work interference. He did have to go to San Diego Comic Con this year because he was part of a panel, but as soon as he told Katie she was buying the tickets online so they could go as a family.

Katie had been doing a lot of back-and-forth travel between Montreal and Orlando to keep everything in order, but this would be the last stop in her back-and-forthing. She and their son would be right by his side for the rest of the summer and that made him so happy. He was getting to be a "normal dad" again, and he couldn't wait to do everything that he told Stevie they'd do. The six year old had quite the list of things to do (including learning to ride a skateboard and learning Arabic), but Sami was certain that they'd get everything done. He had already bought his son the skateboard he wanted, as well as a helmet and knee and elbow pads, the rest of it Katie just needed to approve since the list had been mostly father-son secrets. Life was easier for Sami when his wife approved of things that their son wanted to do.

A steady stream of people started heading for the baggage claim, and Sami had his eyes peeled for his wife. Even in such a thick crowd, she wasn't hard to pick out and he couldn't help but smile at the way she was slightly bent over as she spoke to their son about something.

"Dad!"

"Steves!" Sami called out to his son, kneeling down so that he could wrap his arm around his son once the six year old came barreling into his chest while still being mindful of his injured arm. "I missed you, buddy."

"I missed you, too, Dad." Stevie mumbled into his father's chest, smiling when he felt his mother's hand come to rest atop his head. "Mom said that you have a surprise for me."

"I do. It's in the car." Sami spoke with a grin as Stevie pulled back. The boy truly looked like his mother in that moment, eyes wide and sparkling with joy, and Sami ruffled his hair as he stood up to his full height.

"Stevie, go stand by the baggage claim and wait for our bags, alright?" Katie requested, shooing away their son and smiling as he ran off to the baggage claim. "I've missed you, Sami."

"And I missed you, mon amour." He whispered, cupping her chee in his hand and gently pecking her lips. "You look beautiful."

"Thank you." Kate spoke with a small smile, wrapping her arms around his neck loosely. "I think this'll be the longest amount of time we've ever spent together."

"That's kind of depressing." Sami laughed, pushing a stray hair out of her face. "But I have loads of ideas for how we can spend our free time."

"What free time? Your son has a list of everything he wants to do, that I need to see and approve of by the way, but I'm pretty sure you're all booked up for the summer."

"But Finn, Enzo, and Cass have already signed up to take him off of our hands for a day."

"But-"

"Our dearest son has already approved of the idea and is excited for a sleepover at Uncle Finn's house."

"I can only imagine what you've got planned for that night."

"I want another baby, so I bet that narrows it down a bit."

"You're awful." She laughed, pulling away from her husband but holding a hand out to him. "Let's help Stevie with the bags and we can talk about this later tonight."

"Who said that you'd be doing any talking tonight?" Sami quipped, grinning when she looked up at him in disbelief. They were in public and usually her husband was at least mindful enough to make comments that were even slightly sexual in a different language when they were in public. "I have plans for you, my love."

"But Stevie-"

"Sleeps like a rock. Relax, Kates. Also, a box came in the mail yesterday addressed to you?"

"Oh good, I was hoping it would get here before Stevie and I did." Katie spoke with a grin as they reached their son, grabbing her suitcase as it started to go by and Stevie tried to get his but Sami had to intervene and get it because the six year old's arms were just a bit too short to grab them.

"What is it?" Sami asked, referring to the box, and Katie merely shrugged with a smirk on her face. He didn't like that look. That look screamed mischief, and he was excited but at the same time the last time he had seen that look she had tied him to their bed (something he was definitely for until she had left him there because she gotten a text about the Harry Potter Weekend on television) so he was slightly concerned. "Katie?"

"It's a crockpot, Sami. Relax."

"I already have one in the apartment."

"It's not the right kind."

" _You_ bought it, dearest wife of mine." He reminded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they followed Stevie out of the terminal. "Can you drive?"

"Of course, dearest husband." She assured, looking up at him in time to receive a kiss on the nose that was meant for the side of her head. "You didn't open the box?"

"It wasn't addressed to me and I wasn't sure if I was meant to look inside it so I didn't."

"You're way too considerate to be my husband. I shamelessly open your mail that comes to the house."

"I know and I appreciate it. We have that agreement when it comes to my mail at the house but you don't get mail at the apartment until yesterday and we haven't discussed or made an arrangement because we haven't had to, therefore I wasn't going to take the risk of upsetting you over a box when I could wait the twenty-four hours to have you open it."

"I swear you are twelve times more attractive when you actually _use_ your head and think about things before acting." She commented, getting a dry laugh out of her husband as they stepped outside into the sunshine that was Orlando in the summertime. "And I don't fully support you giving our son that death trap."

"It's a skateboard, Katherine. I even bought him a helmet and pads to go with it." He defended his purchase, grinning down at his wife as she rolled her eyes. "The kid plays hockey, Kates, pretty sure he'll pick skateboarding like it's nothing. He _is_ my kid, sporty things come naturally."

"He just gets his intelligence from me, gotcha." She teased, smirking up at her husband as he opened the trunk. "I dunno if you could tell, but I missed you a lot."

"I definitely noticed, mon amour." He murmured, waiting until Stevie got in the car before he kissed his wife again. "But we've got all summer to spend together as a family and I really don't want to be more than five feet away from you for any given moment at this point in the day."

"And I am more than just alright with that, but we should probably get in the car so Stevie doesn't bake."


	6. Thoughts

"For the record, I disagree with this completely." Katie sighed, looking around at the empty parking lot before looking at her husband. Stevie stood in front of his father, helmet and pads on as he stared up at his mother. She was in a rough position, her against her husband and son (who happened to be an adorable version of her husband). She already couldn't tell Sami no, there was no way she could directly tell Stevie no when he was looking so eager to do this. "It's more dangerous than the hallway."

"But not as dangerous as an ice rink." Sami countered, earning himself a half-hearted glare from his wife. "I think he'll be fine, and he already knows that it's not the hallway. But he'll never learn and _you'll_ never get comfortable with this if he doesn't practice and get better. This isn't just for Stevie, it's for you too."

"When you put it that way, it makes it hard for me to argue." Katie sighed, leaning back against the car with a small smile. "Go, learn, have fun, bond. We're only out here for an hour though."

"Thank you, habibi." Sami murmured, kissing his wife's forehead before he hand Stevie ran off to skateboard.

There was a reason why Katie was so adamant about Stevie not skateboarding and it wasn't the fact that Stevie could potentially get hurt. Her kid played hockey; he had gotten hurt in the past, took it like a champ, recovered, and went back out there. Him getting hurt physically wasn't really on her radar. Her concern was what would happen _after_ this summer of fun with Sami was over. Her boys bonding over skateboarding and everything else was all well and good, but would Stevie still want to skateboard when Sami wasn't there to skateboard with him? Would he still use the skateboard or would it be just like the Wii Sami had gotten him for Christmas? Just sitting in his room collecting dust because using it wasn't as much fun without Sami around.

All she could do was sigh, because this wasn't what she pictured when she had first gotten pregnant with Stevie. Of course at that time Sami was still wrestling on the independent circuits, which gave him a bit more freedom with his schedule even if the paychecks weren't as phenomenal as they were with the WWE. When he got signed to the WWE she figured he would get more time to be at home and, while he was still in developmental it was lovely. He was home every day, spending time with her and their son and everything was wonderful. Then the main roster talks started happening and Sami wanted to move them to his hometown so Stevie could properly embrace his French-Canadian heritage and Katie agreed because she knew that once he hit the main roster that he would rarely be home anyways so it made sense to live in Montreal rather than Orlando with Sami.

But that was a huge mistake in her opinion. Main roster "talks" went on for two years before Sami even started going to main roster shows to sit backstage and wrestle dark matches on Raw and SmackDown. They could have stayed in Orlando, they should have stayed in Orlando because living life like a single parent and almost never seeing her husband sucked. She was confident in their relationship, because she had seen Sami push away a ring rat when he didn't know that she was watching and she _knew_ that he would never cheat on her, but that didn't stop her from thinking about what he _could_ be doing without her there. She could only imagine how rough it was on Stevie, because there were some things that you couldn't talk to your mom about and she understood that. If Stevie wasn't so comfortable in Montreal she'd move them back to Orlando to be with Sami.

But she couldn't because Stevie's whole school career was in Montreal. All of his friends were there, not Orlando. He had been on the same hockey team with the same group of boys for two years and they were his best friends. She couldn't take him away from that. She _wouldn't_ take him away from that and his friends. That wouldn't be fair to him and would only make his life more difficult than it already is when he only gets to see his father once a month - if that.

 _And Sami wants to have another baby? Yeah, right._ Katie thought to herself, knowing that there was no way in hell she'd go through another pregnancy without Sami there with her. Having another baby was not on her agenda at this moment. Not with his schedule, not with him living in the States while she and Stevie lived in Canada. Not with her seeing him in person close to never.

"Hey mom?" The gentle voice accompanied by gentle tugging on her shirt had her looking down at her son and smiling down at him. "Why are you crying?"

"They're happy tears, Stevie. Don't worry." She tried to assure, keeping the smile on her face as she wiped at her eyes. "What do you need?"

"Nothing. Dad wanted me to ask if you were okay because you had your thinking face on." She sighed upon receiving this information, looking up to where her husband was standing a few yards away in time to see him wave at her sheepishly.

"I'm fine, but let's not tell him about me crying." Katie murmured, standing up straight and looking at her husband as he slowly rolled towards them. "You guys ready to go get some food?"

* * *

"You were crying earlier." Sami mentioned, watching as his wife got ready for bed. Katie only shrugged, not wanting to explain her earlier thought processes to him because she knew that he would feel bad. She didn't want to make him feel bad when he was already in a slump due to being on the bench for the next six months. She was here to help him, not hurt him further. "What made you so upset?"

"It doesn't matter, Sami."

"It matters to me. You're my wife, Kates, I don't like seeing you cry."

"Sami, it's okay. I'm okay."

"It's not okay to me." He was being adamant about this, something she expected but something she certainly didn't want to deal with. She wasn't in the mood to deal with him trying to fix things right now. He couldn't fix this. "Katie please."

"Sami, there's nothing you can do about it so why do you care?" She asked, getting into bed and lying with her back to him. She felt his hand on her side as he shifted to lay behind her.

"I care because I love you, Kates." He murmured, kissing the skin behind her ear. "I love you and, even though I've got a wing on the mend, I want to do everything in my power to make you happy."

"What would make me happy is out of your control, so I'd rather not hurt your feelings by sharing my thoughts with you."

"I need to hear them, though. Things flow smoother when we're on the same page." Sami reasoned, closing his eyes as he pressed his forehead to her shoulder. "Please, Katie."

"It just sucks, Sami. I want so much with you, I want what I can't have and it sucks." She whispered, turning so that she could have the eye contact that she knew Sami wanted. It was so intimate, their foreheads pressed together with his hand on her hip and her hand cupping his cheek. It was like when they had first started seeing each other and it really took her back to their youth. "I am _so_ proud of you Sami, I really am. You defied the odds and you're living your dream. But, at the same time it sucks so bad for me because I want to be beside you but I can't because I'm holding down the fort in Montreal while you're supporting our family here in Orlando. I want what we had when you were in developmental, having you home every night to play with Stevie and hold me while we sleep. But I can't have that."

"Katie you're getting that now."

"But once school starts I'm going to lose it. By that time you'll be in physical therapy and working at the Performance Center and you won't be able to come to Montreal with us."

"I won't be at home, no, but-"

"It's not a home without you there." She cut him off, blinking back tears. "It's an amazing house to raise our son in but it's not a home to me. My home is with you."

"And mine is with you, don't you ever doubt that." He whispered, and she could see the tears in his eyes. She hated it, but she knew it was necessary to have this conversation now rather than later. "You think this isn't shitty for me too? Being away from the love of my life and my son? I know I said I wanted another but I couldn't have another child knowing that I wouldn't be with you for the pregnancy and the birth. It wouldn't sit right with me; having you raising both of our kids, one being an infant, without me there consistently. There's no way I could do that to you."

All Katie could do was nod, knowing that there was so much that she wanted to get off her chest but she had to consider Sami's feelings. Everything that was shitty for her was shitty for him, too. It was probably worse for him than it was for her because she got to watch their son grow before her eyes and Sami wasn't getting that.

"I was going to ask you to move back to Orlando, but we couldn't do that to Stevie. He's young, but his life is in Montreal. Moving him wouldn't be fair."

"That's what I was thinking about earlier. But there's so much on my mind and it's so hard because I know that everything bothering me is most likely bothering you too and I feel like I'm complaining."

"You deserve to complain every now and again, Katherine." Sami assured, moving his hand up from her hip to her cheek so he could rub circles into her skin with his thumb like he knew she liked. "You have been nothing but strong for me and Stevie. Whenever I've had a hard night you were right there to talk me down from getting on the first flight to Montreal, you were there to keep me from quitting, you've been there for me and you've been there to make sure that we stayed solid in our relationship and solid as a family unit. You've been my strength from the beginning and you should know that you're just as entitled to complain as I am. If not more entitled because you wouldn't have moved to Montreal in the first place if I had given you your way."

"There's just so much going on with us, so much that I'm thinking about. I'm _always_ thinking, Sami. I know part of getting older is losing that ability to just float by, but sometimes I just want to fucking float because it gets exhausting to be thinking nonstop. To be thinking and worrying about _everything_. I wasn't the thinker in the early days, Sami. I'm so sorry that you had to be the thinker because this fucking sucks."

"I was older than you, Katie. Still am, obviously. But I liked being the thinker because it gave you the freedom to be young. I don't know when the tables turned but I'm sorry that they did. You shouldn't have to have to handle everything and I'd love to take some of that on for you."

"Sami, I've just gotten so used to taking care of everything that if I let you take care of things it'd be foreign and I wouldn't like it." She spoke with a teary smile, shaking her head slightly. "But, going back to our original conversation, there's a reason why I'm so against I'm so against Stevie skateboarding other than him getting hurt. My concern is him learning to skateboard with you and loving it with you, but then we're back in Montreal and it joins the Wii on the shelf of 'never getting touched again'."

"He really doesn't play the Wii?"

"Not as much fun without you."

"That's three hundred I could've spent on hockey tickets." Sami muttered, smile on his face as Katie pecked his lips. "Thank you for sharing with me Katie. I know things are rough right now, probably rougher than when I was on the indies which is baffling to me, but it will pay off. Once I'm healed up I'm not taking any risks."

"Sami, your job is-"

"The biggest fucking risk in the world, I know. Our insurance makes that extremely obvious." He laughed, gently patting her cheek. "But I'm going to keep myself safe, I'm going to make sure that you have one less thing to worry about. Thank you for being the thinker while I'm busy dreaming."

"I was the dreamer in the beginning, Sami. We just switched roles." Katie smiled, gently patting his cheek. "Thank you for forcing me into talking to you, I feel a bit better."

"It's what I do, Kates. We're going to Universal tomorrow so I need you to get some sleep."

"Yeah, yeah." She mumbled, pushing her husband onto his back so she could lay on him. "It's been awhile since I've laid on you, Sam."

"Awhile? It's been years." He chuckled, rubbing her back with his free arm. "We'll work things out, Kates, I promise. I can't let you be unhappy like this."

"Let's just get through the summer. We can take care of that when the time comes."

* * *

 **A/N: So I keep updating the summary to match the number of parts, but the next chapter is going to be the last one I promise. There's plans for a Katie/Sami backstory, but I dunno if I want to go through with it.**


	7. WrestleMania

Landing in Dallas, excited son by her side, Katie couldn't be more excited. Sami's first WrestleMania, and Stevie's first where he could watch his father (hopefully) win the Intercontinental Championship in the ladder match. If she said that she wasn't terrified for her husband's wellbeing, she would be lying, but she was so proud of him for making it this far that she was pushing her concerns to the side for the time being. She was going to enjoy this week as a wrestling fan, and then she'd be a concerned wife once WrestleMania was over and she was helping her husband ice whatever sore spots he had.

"Mom, are you thinking hard?" Stevie asked, snapping the brunette from her thoughts as they got up to leave the plane.

"Not anymore, buddy."

"Good! C'mon, Dad is waiting for us!"

"You do know that your dad's plane lands fifteen minutes _after_ ours, right?" She asked, grabbing their carry-on bags and handing Stevie's (which was really just filled with art supplies) down to the seven-year-old. The look in those eyes had her laughing, gentle hand on her son's head as he walked down the aisle. "Yeah, for once we're getting somewhere before he does."

"Do you think dad will have time to go to the theme park?"

"I'm not sure, but I'll talk to him and see what his schedule looks like." Katie assured, smiling at the stewardess as they left the plane and making sure that Stevie didn't trip like he usually did when exiting a plane. "But you're lucky. Getting to go to TakeOver _and_ WrestleMania and watching your dad wrestle in both shows."

"I'm more excited for TakeOver."

"Why's that?"

"Because Dad is wrestling, but so is Uncle Finn, and Auntie Bayley. Throw in American Alpha and getting to see Uncle Ezno and Uncle Cass and they're all of my favorites right now." He explained, looking back to Katie with a grin.

"You're so much like your father, it's ridiculous." She laughed as they entered the terminal, leading her son to the desk so they could find out where Sami's plane was landing.

"Are we getting our bags first or just waiting for Dad?"

"Pretty sure our bags can wait a few minutes especially if your dad is going to have to go that way anyways." Katie mused, stopping dead in her tracks when she locked eyes with her husband waiting for them. "How?"

"I thought you said that Dad was getting here after us?"

"He was supposed to." She murmured, shaking her head with a small smile as they walked to meet him. "Just once, could you let us get somewhere first?"

"That wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me, Kates." Sami responded, picking Stevie up and holding the seven-year-old on his hip. Kisses to the cheek were given to his wife and son as they walked to the baggage claim, Sami listening to Stevie talk about the flight and how excited he was for TakeOver while Katie just smiled. She knew Sami was going to be busy this week, so she just wanted to enjoy this time where she was with her husband and their son and enjoy listening to them interact. "Hotel, then Six Flags?"

"You have time?"

"Why do you think I flew in early, Kates?"

* * *

She had never been so nervous in her lifetime. In a matter of hours Sami would be in a ladder match, probably one of the most dangerous matches ever, for the Intercontinental Championship. She wasn't sure if she was more concerned about it being a ladder match or the fact that it was a ladder match where Kevin was also involved. Kevin hasn't hesitated to hurt Sami in the past, and she knew that Sami wouldn't hesitate to put himself in harm's way to get to Kevin.

"You should be sleeping, dearest love of mine." Sami grumbled, not even bothering to open an eye because he knew exactly how his wife was positioned over him so he didn't need to see to be able to gently brush his knuckles against her cheek. "What are you thinking about?"

"How badly I want you to destroy Kevin while you have the opportunity but at the same time I don't want you to get too beat up." She admitted, smiling when he opened his eyes with a small smile of his own. "I know, it's weird to hear me enable you like this."

"Foreign." He laughed, resting his head back against the pillow as she giggled. "Sure you're speaking English, habibi?"

"Want me to say it in French and Arabic just so you're certain?" She teased as he sat up, watching his face carefully as he studied hers.

"You're scared as hell." He murmured, cupping her cheeks before planting a loving kiss on her forehead. "But it's okay because I am too."

"You've probably been nervous every time you've stepped in that ring since your return."

"But I push it down because I know you're at home freaking out enough for all of Montreal and the last thing you need to see is _me_ nervous." He reasoned, stroking her cheeks as he spoke. He knew that her nerves were running high and that was keeping her awake, so he had to soothe those nerves so she'd sleep and he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep until she was sleeping. "Ladder matches are scary; I know what you're thinking, but I need you not to worry so much. I want to beat Kevin, _slaughter_ him really, but I'm not putting my health further on line for that when I know my time to beat his ass one-on-one will come."

"You promise?"

"Cross my heart. Our first 'Mania needs to be memorable for the right reasons, not because I got myself another trip to the hospital on behalf of Kevin."

"We'll be front row cheering you on. Win or lose, you're still Stevie's hero."

"One of these days I'll break out the Generico mask." He mumbled, pulling her into his chest as he laid down. He felt her smile as she shifted to lay on top of him, her body relaxing as one of his hands settled on her lower back and the other gently pet the back of her head. "Get some rest, Kates. Big day tomorrow, long as hell too."

"I yawned just looking at your schedule for tomorrow."

"Trust me, I'll be texting you all day throughout until you and Stevie are in my arms after the show."

* * *

"I swear you find new ways to scare me half to death." She mumbled into his neck as she held him close, not at all caring that he was still sweaty and possibly hurting in a few places. Sami could only chuckle, affectionately ruffling Stevie's hair before wrapping both arms around his wife. She obviously needed the comfort and assurance that he was in one piece and not in need of a hospital trip, and he was more that willing to give that to her.

"I'm alright, habibi." He whispered into her hair, hands rubbing her back in an effort to show her that his limbs were working properly. "I'm going to be sore as hell in the morning, but I'm legitimately okay."

"You're not just posturing?"

"No posturing and no bullshit, Katie. I'm okay, just like I promised you I would be."

"I'm so proud of you, Sami." She murmured, pulling back so she could cup his cheeks. To Sami there was no feeling greater than this, having his wife in his arms and his son by his side backstage at WrestleMania. Especially after being injured like he was and having to take enough time off to where he wasn't sure he'd even have a career to come back to. Plenty of guys before him had been just as red hot as he was and sidelined by a major injury but didn't come back with that same spark they once had and he had been terrified that being gone so long would have everybody move soon from him and onto something greater.

But he supposed that was where Katie came in. She knew what he was thinking before he did half the time and knew just what to say to get his mind of the negative and make him focus on the positives. The negatives were still in his mind, but he didn't dwell on them as much and that was something he definitely credited to her and their son because it was extremely hard to throw a pity party while you were sandwiched between the two people you loved most in the world while watching _Finding Nemo._

"You're thinking again, Sami."

"Just thinking about how perfect this moment is and how I owe it all to you and Stevie."

"But Dad, you're the one who-"

"Just take the compliment, Steves. Your dad rarely gives these out without sarcasm or a joke." Katie warned with a laugh as Sami picked up their son for a group hug. It was a perfect moment and, while he was disappointed that Kevin didn't need a stretcher to leave the ring area, Sami still proved that he could walk the road to redemption and come out on top in some way. It wasn't easy, nor would the rest of his path to beating the hell out of Kevin, but with his wife by his side and their son cheering him on Sami felt like he could do anything.


End file.
